Lte

Fifth-place US carrier US Cellular (yes, there is a fifth place behind the all-swallowing big four) plans to dramatically expand their LTE footprint this year by the number of 1200 sites. They'll be switching on new 4G services in 13 states, and by the end of the year plan to cover 93% of their customers. For a full list of where to expect LTE by year's end, check out the press release after the break.

The build-outs of the LTE networks of AT&T and Verizon in the United States have hit the point where they're covering smaller cities in 4G radio signals. In fact, just today Ma Bell announced that they're flipping the switch to turn on AT&T LTE coverage in 12 municipalities around the United States, though the largest in this batch is Bismark, North Dakota, population: 65,000. There used to be a time when a single new LTE network meant millions were covered — now it takes a dozen new markets to cover a mere 300,000. We're on the long tail of the LTE coverage build-out now. The full list of new AT&T LTE coverage follows.

Late last year saw AT&T adding international LTE roaming in Canada and the UK, and today they're adding 13 more nations to the list. If the added services are treated in the same way as AT&T's deals with EE in the UK and Rogers in Canada, the rates charged for the "Data Global" add-ons won't change with the addition of LTE services, though AT&T did not say if that would be the case in their press release. AT&T put a full list of the countries where you'll be able to get LTE speeds while roaming starting today.

Sprint has flipped the switch on LTE service in 45 more markets today. That bring's the carrier's total LTE coverage to 230 markets. LTE coverage from Sprint is now available in Lexington, Kentucky, New Haven, Connecticut, and Spokane, Washington. Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, N.Y. now have LTE coverage as well. Sprint also says that their 3G service has been improved with better signal strength and call quality.

I'm not sure what classifies something as a "metro area", but whatever it is, T-Mobile US says their LTE 4G network now covers 233 of them. No matter how you parse it, that's a big improvement over where they were last year, fighting Sprint for last place in next gen. Neville Ray, chief technology officer for T-Mobile:

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c support the more LTE bands in more places than ever before. And if you're living in an area without LTE, they also support DC-HSPA+, HSPA+, and EVDO Rev A. That's a lot of alphabet soup acronyms that, if shaken out, spell FAST. But how fast is the new fast? What kind of speeds are we getting from our brand new iPhones? We're running our usual tests now, but we'd love to see what you're getting in your area. So here's what to do:

Apple has updated their page explaining what LTE bands cover what networks and where with information for both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. You can also see which model numbers each variant will carry both within the US and internationally. It looks to line up model wise to what we already see in the iPhone 5.

This isn't a phone, or a tablet, or any other kind of device, but it is possibly the star of the show here in Berlin at IFA 2013. What it is, is an LTE tower constructed by the folks at Vodafone Germany, entirely made using Lego bricks. Who knows how long it actually took to put together, or how many Vodafone Germany employees were drafted in to put together this gargantuan structure, but it's impressive. Very, very impressive. So I couldn't leave the show without sharing it, though no amount of images could ever truly show how big this thing really is.

Sascha Segan, lead mobile analyst at PC Magazine, talks to Rene about the evolution of data connections, the annual Fastest Mobile Networks survey, the triumphs and tragedies of modern carriers, and why we can't always have nice phones.

EE, the UK's only 4G LTE network provider, has today announced another round of expansions that sees ten new towns able to access the high-speed data for the first time. Not only this, but their rollout of double-speed LTE continues to slowly grow, with another three locations switched on today. Perfect for iPhone 5 customers on the network.